With an increase in the number of devices that are being removably mounted in vehicles, there is an increase in the demand for simple, yet sturdy, bracket assemblies for mounting such devices. Such devices include radios, CD players, speakers, or any other devices that are desired to be removably mounted in a bracket assembly. Such bracket assemblies need not to be limited to use in a vehicle.
Conventional bracket assemblies include U-shaped brackets with two side supports having apertures for receiving screws. Screws are manually screwed through the side supports into the sides of the device housing. Two hands are needed to attach such devices to the bracket assembly. One hand to hold the device in place in the mounting assembly and another to tighten the screws.
The screws do not reliably hold the device in a desired position in the bracket assembly. If the bracket assembly is used in a vehicle and the vehicle encounters rough driving conditions the desired position of the device is often lost. The screws do not have enough surface area contact nor do the screws provide enough tension with the device to reliably hold the device in the bracket assembly. The screws also tend to scratch and wear the housing of the device so that over time the attachment of the device in the bracket assembly is minimal at best resulting in a malfunctioning bracket assembly. Furthermore, the screws must be constantly manipulated in order to change the orientation of the housing device.
The housing of such a device may include gear teeth for mating with gear teeth on the bracket assembly but a screw is still required for attaching the housing to the bracket assembly. Furthermore, with a separate mating part on the housing device there is the problem that over time the contact is dulled and the teeth wear and there is no longer a sturdy and reliable hold on the housing device. Such gear teeth are often stripped resulting in a housing that drops vertically in a position so that the display is unreadable and the controls are not reachable. This becomes a real problem if the housing device is for a police radio involved in a high speed chase.
The conventional bracket mounting assemblies require screws or other devices to maintain the housing position. The conventional bracket mounting assemblies do not provide both the mechanisms for slideably attaching a housing device to the bracket and for incrementally rotating the housing device on the bracket assembly.